Crowd
by Hannah Forever
Summary: Shay Flanders is 15 and on the run. She's soon discovered and while running, breaks her ankle. Turns out they were humans and they take her to their home, where she meets Jamie. Will he be able to cure her fear of people? Will the two fall in love?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

**My life had been a relatively happy life. Sure my parents fought, and I fought with them, but it was better than it is now. I mean, come on, what parents don't fight with their kids?... Err... What kids don't fight with their parents? **

**When they invaded, I was too young to remember, but it was also really hard to tell, they aren't like the little green guys you see in movies. They act so human! Soon, terminal patients were walking out of hospitals, my parents, along with everyone else, thought it was a miracle. My parents never suspected anything out of the ordinary, and neither did I, until I was ten, when my life was turned upside down. **

**When I was ten, my father had gone on a "business trip." Two weeks later he had come back, but he wasn't alone. He was not really my father, he had the body of my father, he looked like my father, he sounded like my father, but he was not my father. My father was dead and I accepted that. **

**I had suspected something strange was happening when my friends started acting weird. A week before my dad went on the "business trip", my best friend Kayla had started acting weird, well not exactly acting weird, more like I had a gut deep feeling, one of the ones that never lie to you, that something was wrong. She still acted like my friend Kayla, but I just knew she was different. We had been like twins, insepreable, thinking a lot alike, and it was sometimes like we could read each other's thoughts, we even completed each other's sentences. But the second it happened to Kayla, I knew, deep down in me, that something happend and that she was no longer my fun loving soul sister.**

**They had a strange silver gleam in their eyes, that's how you could tell the difference from a human and one of **_**them**_**. The silver gleam was actually the alien in the people's brains. They also had a pink scar on the back of their neck where they were inserted. I had heard one guy in our town raving and ranting about aliens invading and how they'd taken over while my parents had been in the grocery store. I had snuck out to go to the book store across the street to listen to what the man had to say. My parents had come out of the grocery store and put the groceries in the car before they noticed me listening to the raving man about alien invasions, then they picked me up faster than a seal swims from a shark and threw me in the car. I heard the man say "Get yourself hidden kid, or they'll get you." over the roar of the engine. His name had been Greg, and I knew that what he had been saying about the aliens made sense about why my friend and soul sister was acting strange and why I had a very **_**off**_** feeling about her. I had wished it wasn't true, but I knew it was deep down in me.**

**So when my dad, or rather, my dad's body, came back from the "business trip", with that silver gleam in his eye, I knew what he was and knew I had to get out of there, fast. I packed what I could, which wasn't a lot because I was so tiny, and decided how I was going to get out of there. My best friend had been Changed, my dad was Changed, and I was sure that my mom was, if not already, Changed. I couldn't stay there and lose myself, I wouldn't do that. I snuck out through a hole in my closet that dropped into the crawl space under the house that neither of my parents knew about, mostly because I'd made the hole when I was eight. I hid there as Seekers searched the house for me and heard when they took my Mom. My father told her to go with his "co-workers" and that he'd grab me and we'd all go to his office building for a party. Of course my Mom believed him and got into the SUV with two female's. They drove away and I knew that they were going to Change my mom. I stiffled my sob so I wouldn't get found. My father and several others continued to search all over my house, inside and out. When all of them went inside,it had been dark for at least two hours, I decided it was safe to leave then and crawled out from under the house and I disappeared into the night.**

**I ran for the forest that was just behind my house and I heard the Seekers trying to run after me, but I was fast and I had the coyote trail memorized, I had had a fort and a swimming hole out in the middle of the woods and I knew exactly where the trail was, they didn't. I manuvered the trees and everything better then they did and soon I was gone, leaving them far behind, lost and confused. I stayed in the wild from then on, civilization no longer a safe place. When I got so hungry I thought I couldn't go on, I would watch a house far away from other houses, in the middle of nowhere if I could find one, for a long time, and then, when the monsters who lived there left, go into their house, all the food and water and luxury items I could ask for. It only took ten minutes. It was all very fast, and very secretive. I never once had gotten anywhere close to being caught.**

**There had been a time, my very first raid, when I saw a seven year old in the home I was raiding and thought she might be human. I knew I was taking a risk, but I told her I was human and that I'd help her escape from the parasites. Then she started to scream. I knew then she was a parasite herself and I acted on instinct. I grabbed the heavy candlestick on the table I was standing next to and hit her in the head. Hard. I had never hit anyone in my life, ever. She immedietly fell to the floor, and blood started seeping around her head, soaking her beautiful platinum blonde hair, turning it a bright, sicking, crimsion color. I wanted to be sick. I barely managed to keep myself upright and keep hold of my bag as I ran from the house, but not before I grabbed the phone that had been sitting on the table and dialed 911, knowing when nobody said anything they would have to send someone out immedietly and then someone could help the poor girl. I was sobbing uncontrolablly, tears blinding me as I ran far from the house I had just raided, and the girl who I could have possibly killed. Once I had ran until I couldn't run anymore, I stopped and caught my breath. I heard, far, far off in the distance, sirens, and hoped, again, that I hadn't killed her. Even though they had taken my family and my friends away from me, I still didn't want them to die. Just leave the planet.**

**Basically all it comes down to is: It was hard. Not just because I was always cold, hungry, thirsty, and uncomfortable, but because everyone I knew, family, friends, everyone, was gone. They were dead. Only the parasites that live in their bodies remain. It's horrible and, when I have long enough, I think of them. How I'll never get to hear Grandma say 'Merry Christmas' to me again, never tell Momma that I really did take a cookie from the cookie jar, and tell Kayla that she's the bestest friend anyone could ask for and that I love her with all my heart. They were gone and they would never know how much I loved them. I also felt horrible guilt for what I had done to that little parasite. I felt horribly guilty and wished I hadn't acted so rashly and struck her. It hurt and I cried all the time. But soon I learned to deal with the grief that seemed to consume me, and the guilt that I lived and they did not. I had to learn to be strong and to control my emotions, so I worked on not crying when I got hurt or felt bad or angry or sad. Or missed everyone I loved. Soon the only tears that fell were when I got very, very pissed. My constant fear of being captured cancled out almost all of my grief and guilt, after the first few months, which helped a little. **

**I traveled through the southern United States alone, sticking close to Oklahoma, my old home state, but soon I lost track of where I was and what state I was in. Nothing was important except not getting caught, and getting food and water in me. Everything was horrible and hard and unfair, and the constant fear of being caught left me few oppurtunities to linger on my dwelling sadness and aloness. **

**Loneliness hurt almost as bad as the fear of being found. **


	2. Chapter 1

***My editor and BFFFL ****LunaLovegood MagicPhilosophie**s helps me with my writing, and so I have to give her a shout out! She helped me edit and write this chapter, correcting my mistakes and replacing some words, word phrasing, and helping with most of my paragraphs. Please, review and tell me what y'all think! *

Chapter 1

It's been five years since I've been to Oklahoma. Five years since the monsters had officially taken over and started hunting down the humans.

They still haven't found me, but I have a horrible sense of dread that my luck may be coming to an end. I am so tired, so weak that I can't travel in the small oak forest on both sides of me. I don't have the energy to be quick and quiet enough in there like I used to. I used to move as silent as the leopards in the forests, being perfectly at home there like the bobcat. But now I'm slow and weak and dreadfully tired. I fall to easily now a days, and it scares me because it leaves me at a state of free meal to carnivores and easy to catch by Seekers.

It's been four days since I've had food, and I ran out of water a day and a half ago. This leaves me too weak to travel in the forest any more. And because of this, I am forced to travel on the road, the worst place to be if a parasite happens to drive by, which, with my luck, would most definently happen. But it's all I can do to keep moving. I proceed on my doomed route to no where.

I'm just hoping I find a house so I can get food and water. Of course I'm not paying attention to the road, making my dangerous trip that much more deadly. It's stupid, I'm being stupid,. I'm just so tired and so hungry! All I can do is to look at my feet and glance up occasionally to see if a house is in sight.

In my current state, my reflexes aren't exactly up to par. This is most likely why I failed to notice the upcoming headlights about to be shinning directly in my face. I don't have time to run into the forest, they are too close and I'm too weak anyway. I'm caught.

Just as I predicted, the vans headlights hit my face, temporarily blinding me. I feel the adrenalin in my body surpass normal levels and my feet find the strenth to dash into the forest.

The van screeches to a hault. I can hear the click of the door being opened and closed from where I am. The sound of voices soon fills the air.

The pounding of three pairs of feet proceeding me is growing louder. Their running just as fast as me. Although I am weak, I find myself pushing harder into a full out sprint, my flee radar going bizzurk in my head.

My only thought is _Run! Get outta there! Don't let them catch you! Run faster! Ignore the pain and run as fast as you can, dang it!  
_  
I'm just running, trying to not run into the trees that surround me. My eyes are fixed to look only ahead of me. I fail to notice the fallen tree and find myself tripping over it. As I fall, my foot gets caught in a small opening under the tree, and I get pulled underneath. My mind is too focused on moving forword. I can't stop myself before I try to take another step.

My left foot flings itself forword over the trunk. I've yet to notice everything that's happened, my mind is moving so fast. All I can feel is the racing of my heart. All I can see is my ankle hitting the ground and twising itself. My body falls to one side in a restrained twist. I feel myself coming down hard. The trunk bashes my side. I cry out in pain as my right foot comes free of the stupid tree.

I can still hear the thought to be Seekers. Their presance grown ever more alert in my mind. What else would they be? No parasite in their right mind would dare chase after me - a wild human. It's just not safe, so there's only one logical answer; Seekers.

"She's in pain!" One yells

I just want to lie here and cry, but I won't surrender without a fight. I haven't lived all this time just to give up hope. So I suck up the pain, get back to my feet and start sprinting again.

Each time my left foot hits the ground, I wince in pain, stagger forward and, against all my efforts, fall. Scrapping my knees, hands, and face with the wet leaves, dirt, twigs and occassional rock. This allows my pursuer's to catch up with me quickly. The more I run, the further my ankle twists out of it's socket. A few minutes of pursuit later I feel it snap and I instantly fall to the ground.

I hear a loud noise disturbing the quiet night, then I realize that it's me, screaming in pain.

I'm done, I've lost the battle to stay myself. My ankle is so badly broken that I can't get up to save my life.

The three figures surround me. They look down upon my body. I can hear their labored breathing because of they had run through the damp, dark forest.

I'm caught. I'm dead. There's no hope for me now. I still writhe and scream in agony. Still sobbing because of the pain, but that's all I can do. It hurts so bad! I had never felt such pain, and it seems like that is the only thing I can do; scream and cry. I try to stop my cries of pain. I want to fight them off. I don't want to die like this. I don't want to die like a quiter.

I am certainly not going to let them take me to their healing facilites amd turn me into a parasite, not without a fight. I will not have a parasite put in me, I rather die. I'm going to go down fighting, and make sure I do die instead of having my brain invaded. After a few seconds, I all but stop the screaming, still whimpering, but no longer screaming. I willed for the tears to stop too, and soon they did. The men, I couldn't exactly tell but they seemed to big to be women, had caught their breathe by the time I got control of my screaming and crying.

"Jared are you sure it's not a parasite?" One of the men asks, I can't see any details about any of them.

"Positive, the headlights were right in her eyes, no flash back." The man who must be Jared says and he squats down so he is at eye level with me.

A bright light shines right in my eyes and I instinctively shield them with my hands. He then turns me around and moves my hair out of the way and looks at my neck. Nothing is there, of course, but I don't like this parasite touching me. I begin to get nauseated at the hand of a parasite on my neck and try to smack him. He quickly drops his hand and stands back up.

"See she's human." Jared says. He kneels down next to me again and starts to pick me up. No dang way are they taking me alive!

"Don't touch me you parasite." I spit the words at him, sneering and balling my hands into fists.

"What? I'm not a parasite. See?" He says then shines the light, first in his eyes, then the other two guys that stand next to him. Their eyes really don't shine back, but I've been at this for a while, I don't trust anyone, even myself. In fact, this was the first interaction I'd had with anyone, even the parasites, in a little over five years.

"Let me see your neck." I say

"Well there's a problem with that, I have a scar there," My eyes widen and I start to test my strength and see if I can stand up, but just that slight movement sends a jolt of pain up my leg that makes me slump back to the ground, tears falling down my cheeks. "But it's self inflected. We all did it so we could fit in more easily with the Souls." Jared says. Souls? Hah! They are parasites and monsters, not _Souls_!

"Don't touch me." I stammer again, not audible over the cry of pain that slips through my lips at the same moment.

I had moved my ankle. _Stupid, you shouldn't let them see weakness in you, they will just use it against you. Stupid stupid stupid_. I say to myself as all the men look at each other.

Before I can fight, strong hands are under my knees and around my waist and I'm hoisted into Jared's arms. He had used my moment of distraction to lift me. He starts to walk to the road. I begin to fight, punching, kicking, anything to get me free, I begin to cry again because I keep moving my broken ankle. I punch Jared as hard as I can, but I know my weak attempts at hurting him do nothing. I'm sure he can hardly feel anything. I still continue to thrash around, screaming and crying because I'm mad, scared, and my ankle hurts like hell.

As we continue to walk back to the road, I begin to realize how far I'd ran, and am suddenly swelling with pride. As weak as I was, I had managed to run quite a distance. That didn't take away my frightened state, sadly. But soon, all to soon, we arrive back at the road. My heart skips a beat, then begins pounding frantically in my chest. I can hardly make out what the men are saying, the beating of my frantic heart is pounding in my ears. I'm trembeling I'm so scared. I don't want to die, not by having a filthy parasite put in me. I don't want my body taken from me, erasing who I am. I rather each of my limbs be torn off and die a slow, painful, agonizing death than have a parasite put in me.

But the men's eyes really didn't flash back silver when he'd shined the light in their eyes. Maybe they really are human. I tried to convince myself. No! You're the last one. Do not trust them! I yelled at myself. Three humans? No way, there is no way three humans survived. Is there? I can't be sure. I had been so sure that I was the last human, the last of my species. Could I trust them?

I decide that fighting does nothing but hurt my ankle more. I let my thrashing limbs go limp, admitting defeat. I just lie here in Jared's arms, and slowly let the truth, or the lie, sink in. He is human. The other two men are human. I'm not alone any more. The tears that fall down my cheeks release all my loneliness and terror, as I let these three strangers, these three humans carry me up to the van. They stop right outside the door.

"Wanda?" One of the other guys call to the closed passenger side door of their van.

A girl of about twenty opens the door the other man knocked on. She's beautiful, despite her short, un-kept hair. "Yes Ian?" She asks plainly.

"Do we have any No Pain in the back?" The man who must be Ian asks.

"Only one strip left. Why did one of you get hurt chasing her?" She asks, worried, not yet seeing me held in Jared's arms, behind the other two men.

"She twisted her ankle pretty bad, might have broken it." Ian says, motioning to Jared. Wanda sees me for the first time and gasps.

"I heard it snap when we were running." The other man says.

Wanda gets out of the van and opens one of it's doors. Ian and the other man get in, then Jared sits me on the seat closest to the door. He then goes to the drivers seat as Wanda stays by me.

"Hi." She says tentatively. I don't say anything. "Open your mouth please. I have medication that will make the pain go away." Wanda says. For some unfathomable reason I can't bring myself to distrust her. I open my mouth and she lays a thin strip on my tongue, it looks like tissue paper. I close my mouth and try to swallow. Now that I know I'm no longer in danger, my last bit of energy is gone and I can't even complete a simple task like this.

"Do you have any water?" I ask, my voice raspy and hoarse. The sound of my own voice shocks me. I sound so old! I hadn't heard myself speak, outside of my head, for quite a while.

"Of course." Wanda says then grabs the bottle of water Ian hands her. She gives it to me and I drink it all in a matter of seconds. I'm so thirsty. Before I know it, I can't feel any pain. Nothing. Wanda must have seen my eyes grow wide and answers my unasked question. "That's the No Pain, you can't feel anything, but you aren't healed, so try not to move your left leg too much." She then moves my legs with the gentlest of care so I am facing the passenger seat in front of me, and then she closes the door. She then seats herself in the passenger seat and buckles up. I look to my left, where the two men are now. In the light of the car I can see them better. They look so much alike! They have to be brothers – twins – although Ian looks to be a little nicer. They both have black hair, and the one whom I have no name for is bulkier than Ian. Bright blue eyes sit in the middle of their face and are a little tanned, but not much. Jared has sun tanned skin, blond hair that's a shade or two darker than his skin, and brown eyes. His eyes have the same golden tint to them as his hair. Wanda has mahogany hair, to her chin, and sun tanned skin like Jared. They are all roughly the same age, somewhere in their twenties, I'm guessing. I turn to my righ and see the seat belt. I buckle myself up, a habit from before the invasion.

As exhausted as I am, I have to eat and have more to drink before I can zonk out.

"Do you have any food?" I ask shyly.

"Of course." Ian says and grabs something from behind the seat and hands me three boxes of already made sandwiches and a bottle of water. I finish the sandwiches off quickly, they were ham and turkey with american cheese, lettuce, and mayo, being full for the first time in five years. I guzzle the water down next and before I know it I've eaten all my sandwiches and finished off my water. I am no longer hungry, and I'm not all that thirsty any more, although one more water bottle wouldn't be so bad.


	3. Chapter 2

**"What's your name?" Jared asks after an awkward omnious silence. **

**"Shay Flanders." I say, shocked at the sound of my voice. In my five years of solitude, I hadn't had much of an exchange with any one but myself. I guess you don't realize how grown up your voice is if you don't use it. Talking just helps a person learn so much about themselves sometimes.**

**"And how old are you Shay?" Ian asks me nicely, looking down at me and smiling.**

**"Fifteen." I say like it's no big deal. To me it isn't, but apparently they thought differently.**

**"You're only fifteen? And alone?" Ian questions, shocked.**

**"Yes I'm fifteen, and yes I'm alone. Has been that way since I was ten" I recite, I have to remind myself every morning when I wake to my unorthodoxed life, annoyed that everyone was looking at me like some sort of weird science experiment.**

**After a few minutes more of awkward silence, Ian's brother says "Wow, and you've survived all this time. You must be strong." I don't say anything and the silence once again becomes very awkward. Luckily, Wanda comes to the rescue.**

**"Shay, I'm Wanda, and this is Jared." Wanda introduces deciding to be polite. "Back there is Ian, and his brother Kyle." Wanda says and points to the men sitting next to me.**

**"Nice to meet you all. I can't believe there are still humans." I shyly reply.**

**"There are more of us, thirty six, now thirty seven with you." Kyle says**

**"Thirty six humans?" I ask, amazed. How could there be so many humans in one place? It's a miracle.**

**"Yep, and you make thirty seven." Ian adds. I think he was a bit livened by the thought of another of his own kind.**

**"Wow!" I breathe. I had thought I was the only one, now I know there are almost forty more. That's incrediable! I never imagined humans having much of a chance against the invasion at all. After all this time, there's still a glimmer of hope. A small smile crosses my lips for the first time in a long while.**

**I hadn't realized how tired I had been until my eyelids became very heavy and it was hard to keep them fully open and alert. I decide I should definently get some sleep, since I hadn't really slept in two days. I lay my head against Ian's shoulder, an unconscious thing because I always lean my head to the side, and I'm so tired that I don't even care. Although I'm at an awkward angle, one foot on the seat with me, the other straightened so I don't hurt my ankle, and my head on Ian's shoulder. With the help of the air conditioner, my full stomach, and the water running through my system, I fall asleep instantly.**

**Unfortunently, when I awake the next morning it is not due to the fact that I have finally gained a full nights rest, but because of some strange ireconisible sound. I'm disoriented and don't know where I am. My eyes flutter open and I realize that I'm laying on Ian's shoulder, in a van but not the same van I had fallen asleep in. My body's tucked into Ian's side. It's what's keeping me warm from the cold of the air conditioner. I hear his steady breathing and realize that he is asleep too. His arm is wrapped snuggly around my waist, and his body's heat is so realivingly warm that whatever the sound was, it no longer bothered me. I lay my head back on his shoulder and listen to the hum of the car motor, the steady breathing of Ian, and the road under the tires as I drift off into a dreamless sleep once again.**

**The second time my body awakened was some what of a repeat of the last time, except that the noise this time was belting right out of Kyle's mouth.**

**"What the hell?" He screams as I keep my eyes closed and wonder if I can drown him out and go back to sleep. "What the hell has Jared done? He's gotten himself caught, and that means us and our entire family! That lunatic!" Kyle hollars like a banshee, I don't let them know I'm awake yet.**

**"Should we stop and try to help them?" Ian replies worriedly**

**"I don't think we should, don't want to make a scene if Wanda has things taken care of." Kyle says, more calmly this time.**

**"We should stop and help them."**

**"I'm just going to drive right on by." He keeps his word, but slows the vans speed a resonable amount.**

**"Stop and help them!" Ian yells, raising the arm I'm resting on and making me fall. It hurts when I bump my head against the window. Now I have a headache. Wait a minute... It hurt? I barely hear Ian's apologies, I'm too busy worrying about my ankle, because I am beginning to feel the throbbing, then the unmistakable pain. I look out the window and see the police car on Kyle's side of the van parked on the opposing side of the road. I also notice the van that has Jared and Wanda in it, on my side of the vehicle. I look at Wanda and see Jared lying in the backseat, looking like he's asleep while Wanda talks to the police officer. Soon our van passes the scene and picks up speed. As we go down a hill, I see a flash behind us as one of the Seekers shine a bright light in the van one more time, and then see our van coming up behind us. Our van? A flash returned?**

**"She's... oh my God. She's one of them!" I holler, terrified as I start frantically trying to undo my seat belt and get away from them as fast as possible. I start to squirm, trembling uncontrollably, making little panicked sounds, and completely freaking out. I had trusted her, I had let her touch me, I had let her give me that amazing No Pain stuff..._ She's one of them. _My mind kept saying. I was now utterly freaking._not_ trust her. She seems innocent and truthful, and she just has this 'You can trust me. I like you. I'm your friend' vibe." I say, a faint smile crossing my lips. I think I might have blushed when I said Ian loved her. I haven't blushed for years!**

**"Shh, Shay, shh! Wanda is, but she's one of us. I promise Wanda won't hurt you, and neither will we." Ian says, trying to calm me. He puts his hands on my shoulders and rubs my arms. I try to get out of his grasp, but he holds me tighter and I can't get away. I decide that I need to think a little rationally. The way he said her name, carefully, so full of love, I knew that he loved her, and that he was not lying to me. Besides, Wanda had helped me. She was kind and I couldn't find any way to distrust her. I decided I might as well trust her, even if she is a parasite. Even if this is a trick.**

**I take a deep breathe as I remember her gentle touch, her calm words, her shyness, how she looked at me like she really cared about me, and I know that I don't care that she is one of the monsters, one of the aliens who had taken my family, and my friends. She was caring and nice, and I truly like her.**

**"Okay, I just wish I had known sooner so I wouldn't have freaked out so much." I say, calm again, but still shaking from this whole happening. After five years of being afraid of... Whatever they are, it's hard to just turn it off – especially for just one person.**

**"Really? You're okay with it? Just like that?" Ian asks, mystified. He looks like he's seen pigs fly.**

**"Well I can tell that you really love her, and she really and honestly looked like she cared for me when she was giving me that No Pain stuff. Like she really didn't want me to be in pain. Plus, I don't think I couldn't**

**"Wow, that was a lot easier than I thought. You're going to get along really well here Shay." Ian remarks. He's still at the edge of his seat, I can tell. I'm fairly easy going, and I mean, Wanda seemed super nice from the start, so I don't see anything wrong with it... That much... Okay I was still freaking out but only on the inside. I'd just be very observent around Wanda... Then I remembered how I had gotten that gut deep feeling when I had first seen her, and knew I did trust her, even if she was a parasite. I really need to make up my mind. I wonder if I have multiple personality disorder or something. I should really start listening to my intuition more, I remember watching TV shows where the heroine of the show always won out against the villian using her intuition. I should probably start doing that.**

**I lay my head back on Ian's shoulder and close my eyes, exhausted. Kyle turned our van off the road and a few moments later I hear Jared and Wanda's van pull up beside us, then we continue on behind them, towards the place with almost forty humans. I began to panic, would I be comfortable around all of those people? I couldn't be sure.**

**"We'll be there shortly." Kyle says**

**I try to stop thinking, and soon I succeed. I fall asleep, my panic not enough to keep me from unconciousness..**

**The next time I awake, is not because of a noise or because I am well rested, none of the times I awoke I had been well rested, but because, when we leave the road to head into the desert, there's a little drop off and then many bumps. That "mini" drop off sends my left leg flying up and hitting the console. Hard. I scream a blood curdling scream, tears burst through my eyes as I feel the unbearable pain. I bite down on my lip hard to keep another scream from coming again as we continue down the bumpy desert road.**

**Each bump sends my ankle up into the console and I try to reach down, but big hands cover mine and carefully remove them from my foot before I can do more damage to it. Ian pulls me into his side and I hide my face in his chest to muffle my next scream as we go over a bigger bump, it hurts so bad. My screams continue, even though I'm biting my lip so hard I can taste the blood in my mouth. I sob into Ian's chest, gripping the hand that is holding mine. Will the pain never end? Luckily, my question is soon answered. I black out, I can still feel the pain, but I can't hear or see anything. Not even unconsciousness can erase my suffering.**

**When I finally wake, I'm not sure if I'm actually awake or still asleep. It's completely dark where I am, I can't even see my hand. My ankle is still screaming in pain, but I manage just to whimper. I can't control the tears though. All those months of pratice controling my emotions and it's all undone by a simple broken ankle. Pathetic.**

**I wasn't sure how long I'd been unconscious. I couldn't remember much of anything. Nothing, actually. I registered that I was moving, a gentle rocking back and forth. Where was I? How was I moving? My questions were soon answered.**

**"Shay are you awake?" Ian questions. He must have heard my breathing go from deep, even breaths, to faster, more nervous. The past day – or was it days? – came back to me. The pain hit me then. Harder than when I was only semi-conscious.**

**"Yes." I moan, the pain is all I can think about, it hurts so bad. Don't they have any more of that No Pain stuff? I could really use some so I'm not a whimpering, trembeling, crying mess when I meet everyone. How are they going to fix my ankle? Now that I think about it, what will they be able to do? I mean, they live in the middle of nowhere. I highly doubt they have casts and splints and doctor-ish stuff. Is it going to stay broken forever? Will I be disfigured? I hate thinking shallow thoughts. You don't have to think about your looks at all when your alone. But now? Now I was thinking about what I must look like. Great.**

**"I'm sorry you're in so much pain. We hadn't realized how bad your ankle was. We have a doctor here, he will fix you right up, promise." Ian assures me, interrupting my inner babbling again.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 **

**Soon I see a bluish glow, and then, as we walk through the arch way, I see a make shift hospital. There are cots, a table with tools used in daily doctor stuff, and two big things pushed together and a metal door to make a desk for the doctor. He has many books, a few laying open on the make-shift desk. There are also two other men in the hospital. One is wearing a sling. Wonder what happened? **

**When I finally see the doctor, I'm a little stunned. He isn't wearing what I remembered doctors wearing, and he looked sad and tired. The other two men in the hospital also looked sad. **

**"Ian, did you hear what happened?" The doctor asks, not noticing my presence. **

**"Afraid so Doc, it's so horrible." Ian says**

**"What happened?" I whisper to Ian, who doesn't answer my question. Maybe he didn't hear me.**

**"Who's this?" The doctor asks Ian, seeing me for the first time. He must have heard me, but he isn't answering my question either. Something bad must have happened, I conclude and decide to bring the subject up later.**

**"This is Shay. She's a human, can you believe it?" Ian asks, his mood changing from sadness to a more uplifting state. The pain in my left leg, from the knee down, was excruting, and I began focusing more on that then the two mens conversation.**

**"Human? This young? She's still human at this young age?" The doctor asks, not believing. I didn't look that weak did I? God I really hope not, it took me a long time to get all my strength and all the weakness to leave, it would be a shame if that was a big 'ol waste of time. Sigh.**

**"She sure is, strong little girl she is, ran half a mile thinking we were Seekers in a full out sprint with a broken ankle." Ian said, smiling down at me. **

**"Half a mile? With a broken ankle? In a sprint?" The doctor asks in short clipped sentences.**

**"Yep, strongest person I've ever seen in my life. Even after she collapsed, she fought Jared with all she had, managed to hit him pretty good in the face." Ian praised, making me feel a little beter that he didn't think I was weak. I tried to smile but I don't think I did a very good job.**

**"Wow! Shay, how old are you?" The doctor asks me directly.**

**"I'm fifteen, and my ankle didn't break until I finally collapsed." I mumbled that last part, nobody heard me.**

**"Wow, fifteen and alone. Where'd ya find her?" The doctor asks with sudden interest as he turns his chair around to face Ian and me, fully into the conversation now.**

**"She was in southern Oklahoma, walking along the road." Ian says. He finally remembered why we're here, and sets me on the cot furthest from the other men. Thankfully. I wasn't really up for big introductions at the moment. I took an intake of breath and winced when that made my side hurt. He set me down. "Sorry." He mumbles his apology to me.**

**"Shay, you can call me Doc, that's what most folks call me down here. Now you say you think she broke her ankle?" Doc asks Ian, a rhetorical question I'm sure, but I answer anyway. **

**"Not think, know. I heard it snap, that's why I collapsed." I say. I hadn't noticed that Wanda was there with us, but she didn't seem to be listening to the conversation the men were having. She seemed to be ingrossed in something that I couldn't see or hear. Hmm...**

**"Don't look at your ankle." Ian says to me immedietly as doc rips my jeans to the knee. I try to pick my head up, but Ian pushes my shoulder down, making my head roll on the pillow, facing the opening to the hospital. I take a big breath, and wince as it makes my side hurt.**

**Doc examines my ankle, ignoring my moans, sudden intakes of breath, and gasps of pain, and Ian never let's go of my hand, thankfully. Soon Doc is done and gives me the news. **

**"You did break it, fairly well. Sprinting away from the guys really messed it up. We have to put it back in place." Doc said, this made me wince again, although I don't know why. Ian, momentarily distracted, took his hand off my shoulder. I sit up, ignoring the pain and diziness of my head, and look at my ankle. I can see the bone sticking out of my skin. My eyes grow wide and I can't hold back my scream.**

**I bury my head in my hands and cry. My stomach rolls and turn away from Ian to puke. I had never seen anything so grizzly. Never seen so much blood come from my body. I squeezed my eyes shut and buried them in my hands again. Ian pushes me down gently and grasps my hand. I squeeze it as tight as I can. I bite down on my lip to hold back the scream wanting to surface. I taste the blood, but I ignore that. How had I not seen how bad my ankle was? **

**"Do you need help Doc?" Ian asks Doc in a worried voice.**

**"Yes, I do. I need you and three others to hold her down as I re-break it and set it in place." Doc says. I whimper.**

**"Why do we need to hold her down?" Ian asks, it's like I'm not even here, why won't they tell me anything? I'm getting really frustrated. Frustration and anger takes the place of my fear, making me stronger. I stop my whimpers and the tears and open my eyes, avoiding looking down at myself.**

**"When I was fixing up the guys who got shot earlier, I used up all of my No Pain. Plus, if she can't feel the pain, I won't know if I've done it right. I know it's absolutely horrible of me to purposefully put her in excruiting pain. But it has to be done." Doc says**

**"Shot? Who got shot?" I pipe in, just to be ignored. Again. I'm getting pretty sick of this ignoring me bullpoopie. I didn't really register what Doc had said.**

**"You want to put her in unbearable pain, with nothing to help ease it?" Ian asks, bewildered. Unbearable pain? No I don't THINK so! It's like I'm not even freaking here! Ugh!**

**"It's the only way to do it. If we wait too long, it won't heal correctly." Doc said. On second thought, I don't want to be disfigured...**

**Ian sighed heavily then agreed. "Ian please don't leave me." I whisper panicked, gripping his hand. I didn't want to be left alone with someone I didn't know in a strange place, knowing the doctor is going to put me in unbearable pain. Although I didn't want to be disfigured, I didn't want to be writhing in agony either. He just gave my hand a quick squeeze and gently seperated his hand from mine. He then ran out of the room, back to the dark hallway. **

**I sat up and pulled my knees to my chest and hugged them, wincing as the movement caused my ankle and side to shoot pain up my leg and torso, but ignored it. I burried my head in my knees and sat there, panicking. I know this is going to hurt, worse than it already does, worse than when it snapped, worse even then when it hit the console. This is going to hurt tons more. My breathing begins to quicken, as did my heartbeat. I had never experienced a panic attack, but I'm pretty sure I'm having one now. I try to get control of my breathing but fail miserably. I do not cry and I do not whimper, and for that I am immensely proud.**

**I began to prepare myself as best I could for the pain, trying to urge my body to get stronger. **

**I don't listen to the hushed conversation Wanda and the Doc are having. The other two men had left a while ago. It was just me, Wanda, and Doc. I think I might have fallen asleep, because when I awaken, it's dark out. How long had I been asleep? My ankle and side were throbbing. I looked down and saw the bone sticking up from the skin and quickly closed my eyes. I looked towards the doorway where I heard quiet footsteps. **

**Ian returned with Jared, Kyle, and two other men that I didn't know. One is an old guy, he has a white beard that kind of reminds me of Santa Clause, and the other is a boy about my age, maybe a year younger, with black hair that bounces when he moves. His eyes are so kind, just like Wanda's, and just like Wanda, I don't think I could ever mistrust this boy. He is also extremely cute, and he smiled at me as he made his way to my little cot, and he walks right up to me like he knows all about me. **

**"Hi, my name's Jamie." He says and smiles again at me. He has a beautiful smile. **

**"Hi Jamie, my name's Shay." I say and can't resist smiling back, although I'm a complete mess of pain, worry, and panic. "It's nice to meet you, although I wish it weren't because I got hurt."**

**"It's nice to meet you too Shay, and don't worry, Doc's real nice and he will get it done real fast. Promise." Jamie says and holds his pinkie up. I smile faintly and twist my pinkie around his and we both giggle. He grabs that hand and twines our fingers together, I'd never held a boy's hand before, except for Ian's, but he doesn't count. I got a fluttery feeling in my stomach when he took my hand. I knew he was here to distract me as Doc and the other men got ready to do the rebreaking, but I didn't care. He was a marvelous distraction. How odd that my stomach got all fluttery even when I was so panicked.**

**"Shay you need to lay down." Doc says and I reluctantly situate myself on the cot and lie down on my back. I feel exposed and less confident. I didn't think my mental preparation and armory were going to help with this situation.**

**I grip Jamie's hand as I feel the other men grab onto my other arm, and both legs. I start to tremble, I'm so scared, I'm really not looking forward to the pain. I don't do good with pain. Jamie feels me shaking and holds my hand tighter. He then grabs hold of the top of my arm, securing it. "How old are you Shay?" Jamie asks, trying again to distract me, which he did. **

**"I'm fifteen. You?" I ask, truly interested.**

**"Fourteen." He says **

**"We're the same age, almost." I say and giggle a little hysterically. I know Jamie and I will be really good friends, despite us meeting like this. I'm glad Ian brought him down, which is probably exactly why Ian had brought him here, so we'd become friends and he could maybe distract me from the pain. **_**Thanks Ian.**_** I said silently inside my head. **

**I hear Doc sigh and whisper "Let's get this over with" as he grips my ankle and my trembling gets worse, and I whimper, despite my preparation. I want to cry out but not in front of everyone. I feel warm tears fall down my cheeks. If this was hurting me so badly for it just to be touched, how bad was it going to be when he twists it and re-breaks it? When he sets it into place? I wince as Doc nudges my foot and grip Jamie harder. I squidge my eyes shut and grip Jamie's hand harder still, awaiting the pain I know is about to come, the unimaginable pain, the unbearable agony. Each man pushes down harder on my arms and legs to keep them from moving, and Jared puts his hands on my chest so I can't move, making it hard to breathe. This makes my side hurt. I probably should have mentioned to Doc that my side hurt and my head made me dizzy. **

**I know it's coming, I know it's coming, just prepare for it and whatever you do: DO NOT SCREAM. I ordered myself. Right then I feel it, the horrid pain, the gut wrenching agony. Despite all my prompting I scream, breaking through all of my controls, but it's the only thing I can do. My scream is deafening and it raises goose bumps on my arms and a chill runs down my spine at the sound, but the pain is so much, I can't do anything but scream. The tears begin overflowing my squidged eyes and I no longer control them either. I dig my nails into Jamie's hand as the guys push down harder, I had been trying to thrash around, I realized vaguely. Jared pushed my chest down, cutting off my scream immedietly. The tears blinding me, the pain knocking out every other sense, I'm disoriented and don't know what to do. Panicked. So much pain. But unconsciousness does not claim me, to my great disappointment. Instead I have to lay here and endure this pain, this suffering. I rather be passed out, I rather faint, but I don't.**

**Finally Jared releases his hold on my chest, as did all the other hands holding me down except the one on the right, the one whose holding my hand, still. Jamie continues to hold my hand and I sit up and hurl myself into his arms, he lets me cry into his chest as the pain weakens a little, but just enough to where I can stop the screams. I wasn't even aware I was being held in Jamie's arms. I didn't have any awarness of anything except the pain. I begin sobbing. I can't help it, I've never experienced pain like this. Jamie sits beside me on the cot and holds me as I cry and cry. After a few minutes he lays my head on the pillow, laying his head next to mine. He wraps his arms around my waist and lets me cry into his chest. I curl into him and cry there. **

**I don't remember how long we laid like that, me crying, him comforting me, I think he might have cried too, but I'm not sure. He's so sweet and innocent. Soon my sobs turn to whimpers, and finally those quit too. **

_**I've scarred Jamie for life.**_** That was the only thing I could think of. How could Ian have let him come here? Guilt washed through me.**

**"Better?" He asks after I'd been quiet for a few minutes. I do not stop my trembling.**

**"A little. Thanks Jamie, how can I ever repay you?" I ask, blurting out the first thing to pop into my head. **_**Idiot**_** I tell myself.**

**"You don't need to repay me Shay." Jamie says, I feel his chest move as he chuckles softly. I smile faintly, gald he can't see my face as it turns bright crimson. **

**"Still, I hate that you had to see that, sorry." I mutter**

**"I'm just glad that I was here to comfort you, I know you needed that, everyone needs to be comforted, even someone as tough as you." He says and smiles at me again with his uber cute smile.**

**"I really did." I admit, I haven't been comforted by anyone in five years, it felt nice. I hadn't realized how much I had missed being comforted.**

**Doc was tying a bandage around my left ankle, then around my foot. Soon I was all wrapped up. I sat up and Jamie got off the cot and grabbed a chair and put it beside my cot, then he sat down.**

**"I'm so sorry Shay. I wish you hadn't had to endure that. I'm really and truly sorry." Doc says sincerly too me.**

**"It's okay Doc, can't even remember most of it anyway." I lie, trying to make him feel a little better, though I remember all of it with icy clarity. He can hear the false note in my voice. I can't lie, obvisouly.**

**"Well that's good, but I should check on everything else while you're here. Does anythig else hurt?" Doc asks**

**"My side hurts and I get dizzy when I sit up." I tell him**

**Doc shines a light in my left eye for a moment, then my right. He then lifts my shirt up and takes a sharp intake of breath, as does Jamie.**

**"What?" I ask. Doc gently touches my right side and I wince and suck in a sharp breath.**

**"You might have broken a rib, but I can't be sure. It's probably just deep muscle bruising." Doc explains. I don't say anything or look down at myself, but I look at Jamie's face, which is a mirror of Doc's shock. "I can't do anything for it right now. If the pain goes away in a couple days, we'll know it was just deep muscle bruising." I nod my head and squeeze Jamie's hand a little. "When was the last time you ate?" Doc asks me **

**"About four days ago, except Ian gave me a few sandwiches in the car." I say remembering how good those sandwiches were and my mouth began to water. As if on cue, my stomach growled.**

**"Jamie will you go get Shay lunch?" Doc asks Jamie.**

**"Course Doc. Be back in a few." Jamie says and races off down the hall after giving me a parting smile.**

**I had to use the restroom really bad since I had had four bottles of water in the car. Where was I supposed to go? "Um Doc? Is there anywhere I can... Um...?" I couldn't finish my question, a little embarrassed. **

**"Oh of course." Doc must've known what I'd meant. "Jared could you help her?" Doc asks Jared, who I hadn't realized was still here. My cheeks got warm but I refused to blush so I pushed the embarassment aside.**

**"Course." Jared says and puts his arm around my waist, then an arm under my knees, and lifts me up. He craddles me as if I were a baby. He carries me through the pitch black tunnel for about six minutes, then we arrive in a very bright, very big room. I shut my eyes for a second, the lights blinding me. I open them again and see that there are gardens in here. The ones in this room are spinach and carrots, there's a few others on the other side of the room that I can't see. The ceiling of the big garden room was extremely bright but what I did manage to catch a look of what looked like zillions of stars. Wonder how they did that? Jared turns down a tunnel, one of the many in this place, into a partially lit hall. There are lots of little holes in the ceiling that have light shining through them. I wonder where we are, I think I'm under ground but I can't be sure. It's very humid here. **

**When we get to the next tunnel entrance, there is steam. Hmm wonder what that could be? As Jared walked further into the tunnel, I realized it wasn't a tunnel but one big room. I looked through all the steam and on one side of the room, I could see rushing water, a river. Close to the big river there was another river, but much smaller. I wonder if it's just branching off the other river? I'll have to ask somebody, not Jared, about it. **

**"There are lots of missing parts of the floor. You'll memorize where they are in no time, but I brought a flash light for you. Do you want me to carry you in there or do you think you can do it yourself?" Jared asks me, interrupting the babbling I was doing in my head.**

**"I don't think I can walk. In fact I'm 100 percent positive that I can't." I say looking down at my crudly bandaged ankle.**

**"If you will sit right here, I'll get you some clean clothes and some soap." Jared says. **

**"Okay, I'll be here." I say as he sets me on the ground and runs off. I really have to use the bathroom. I sit on the ground where Jared had set me. **

**"I'm bored." I say to nobody in particular once Jared is gone and look around me to see if I can find any rocks or pebbles. I find some and pick myself off the ground. There are stalgimites and stalagatites that join together to make columns and I, hopping on one foot, make it to the one nearest me. About three feet from where I am, there is a giant gaping hole in the ground. I carefully situate myself on the other side of the column, away from the hole, and hop five or six steps to the side of the river. The water flows through the room in something that looks like a giant trough. I sit on the edge of the trough like stone wall seperating the river from the floor and gather my pebbles I'd collected and held onto. I got the flatest one I could, and tossed it into the river where it skipped twice then got carried away to some unseen place under the ground. I did this for about ten to twenty minutes.**

**"Shay? Shay where are you?" I hear someone call**

**"Over here!" I hollar. A few seconds later I see Jamie through the fog and he walks over to me, carrying soap and shampoo in one hand, and clean clothes in another. **

**"Hi Shay." Jamie greets me **

**"Hey Jamie. Jared said he was going to come back." I say as I carefully get down and he puts an arm around my waist. **

**"Wanda needed him to go on another quick raid. I don't know why, nobody would tell me. He told me to come in here and help you, so here I am." Jamie says happily as he helps me limp off back toward the direction I'd come. When he stops me, I'm facing a dark entry way type place. He pats my shoulder and I turn on the flash light. As he leads me through the room, I sweep the flash light all around the room seeing everything and paying special attention to the floor. He leads me to the washroom. Luckily there is nobody else in the room. **

**"This is where you can relieve yourself, then I'll take you to the bathing pool. It's really nice and cool." Jamie says. I smile at the thought of a nice cool bath, the cool water will feel really good. **

**"Thanks Jamie." I say. He takes himself away from the latrine and over to the bathing pool. He slips his shoes off and takes his shirt off. I quickly turn the flashlight off, bathing the room in total blackness. The roar of the water passing below us drowns out most of the sounds in the room. I quickly relieve myself and Jamie comes back and carries me to the bathing pool. I don't have to kick off my shoes because I'm not wearing any. Doc told me that I shouldn't wear a shoe on my left foot so that it can heal faster. I figured I could just go bare foot a while instead of wearing one shoe and looking silly.**

**I begin taking my shirt off, hopping on my good foot. My shirt gets caught over my head and I can't get it off. I keep hopping around in circles.**

**"Shay be careful you don't fall into the water." Jamie says worriedly. I was just about to tell him not to worry about me when I hopped another step, my shirt still stuck on my head, and felt the edge of the bathing pool. My body began tilting, becoming parallel to the floor. Jamie grabbed my wrist right before I fell and yanked me away from the water, hugging me to his chest. My shirt was still caught on my head, my arms all tangled up, and I was pressed against a boys chest, half dressed. My face burned scarlet red.**

**Jamie must not have really assessed the situation until he flipped the light on and saw me half dressed, standing there with my shirt stuck over my head, my torn jeans and bra the only covering I had. He quickly flipped the light off and turned away from me, his face turning a bright crimsion matching mine.**

**"Sorry." He mumbles.**

**"It's 'kay. Not like you saw anything. Umm... Can you help me?" I ask completely embarassed. He walks over to me and helps me get my shirt off. He helps me into the pool and I sigh in delight. It really is a nice place. Not too hot nor too cool. Plus it's pitch dark so it's completely private. I slip my jeans off now that I'm waist deep in the water. I scrub my t-shirt and jeans fiercely with the soap, hopefully getting all the mud and purple dirt from the tunnels off. I rinse those quite a few times then set them on the edge of the pool. When that's done I begin scrubbing fiercly at my hair and body, making sure I'm absolutely clean. I rinse my hair out and submurge myself under the water for a few seconds. **

**The bathing pool is literally that, a big, giant pool. The room is bathed in total blackness and Jamie had gotten in after he made sure I had a place to sit down if I needed too. I hopped towards where I thought the side of the pool was, wanting to get out. I only managed to get a few hops, when I fell. I instinctiutaly put my hands out, but I wasn't on hard ground, I was waist deep in water.**

**I plunged under the water and thrashed around, trying to find the surface. I couldn't process that I was under water and I tried to take a breath, water invading my mouth and hitting my lungs. That's when I panicked. Everything was black and I couldn't find the surface. What if I drown? That thought struck me cold and I thrashed more fiercly than before. Strong hands gripped my waist and pulled me out. I clutched at Jamie, coughing and sputtering, emptying my lungs of the water I had inhaled. He hugged me to his chest and pounded on my chest, helping me cough up the last bits of water.**

**"You okay?" He asked with so much worry in his voice it shocked me.**

**"No more hopping around for me." I muttered in a reply. He chuckled softly and lead me over to the side of the pool.**

**I felt much, much better, and I got out, Jamie helping me so I don't fall on my butt, or drown, again. I'm so accident prone. First my ankle, then almost falling in the pool, then almost drowning. Sigh, stupid clumsy self. **

**He hands me my clean clothes he had brought for me. I get dressed quickly, Jamie keeping me steady so I don't fall. I'm happy to find that these clothes fit me perfectly, though I know they are not mine. I have two pairs of jeans but those are full of holes, these don't have any holes at all. They must be new. And the shirt is a tank top, and I don't have any tank tops. It was nice to be in these clean clothes. **

**Jamie helps me limp out of the dark bathing room and into the steam room. **

**"You don't mind if I carry you do you?" He asks. I shake my head no, and he picks me up and carries me through the steam room, though I suppose I should call it the river room, and into the hall Jared had carried me through. **

**"You're going to go on the tour that Jeb gives all new comers when you feel up to it. He'll show you the entire place, and explain how the tunnels came to be." Jamie said**

**"Can't you just tell me?" I ask, curious about the tunnels.**

**"I won't tell it right. Jeb has to show you. He makes it real interesting." Jamie admitted.**

**"That's fine. I'm not sure when I'll be able to walk on my own though." I say thoughtfully.**

**"Well I can carry you while Jeb gives you the tour. I can be your legs if you'd like. Unless you mind." Jamie offered**

**"I don't mind, and that sounds positively lovely." I said and smiled up at his contemplative face. He smiled down at me with his lovely crooked smile.**

**"Then I'll have him give you the tour soon. After you eat and get some rest. Speaking of, you have a plate of spaghetti waiting for you in the hospital." Jamie said. Just the thought of any form of food hitting my stomach, let alone a delicious dish of pasta, waiting for me made my mouth water.**

**"Any way we can get there faster?" I asked him. He laughed and walked faster to the dark hallway that lead to the hospital.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

** When we arrived at the hospital, Doc told Jamie to take me to his room. Jamie was spectulative but grabbed the spaghetti and handed it to me to hold. I had to use every nerve ending in my body to keep myself from digging into the food. Jamie walked us right back out of the hospital and into the dark hallway. When we were far enough that we couldn't hear Doc, Jamie began to mumble to himself.**

** "I wonder why we have to go to my room. What is he, Wanda, and Jared doing that they're not telling me?" He speculated**

** "I have absolutely no idea. Sorry. What happened earlier? Who got shot? Why does everyone look so sad?" I voiced my questions to him**

** "I'm not going to tell you." Jamie told me instantly**

** "Why not? What's going on in these tunnels that nobody will tell me? I'm living here right? Shouldn't I get to know?" I rebounded**

** We were now in the big garden room, I only saw a few people. I pushed myelf closer to Jamie, hiding myelf from the people. Meeting Jared, Ian, Wanda, Kyle, Doc, and Jeb had been overwhelming enough. I didn't need the extra stress of **_**more**_** people at the moment. All I wanted to do was sit down, eat, and sleep. That's it. **

** "Yes you are living here but I'm not going to tell you." His face set in stubborn lines. I sighed, frustrated, but my fatigue and pain made me unable to focus on an argument.**

** "We'll talk about this later." I said and laid my head against his shoulder, closing my eyes.**

** I must've fallen asleep, but not for long. Jamie was just setting me on a mattress in a room with a very, very, high ceiling. I looked around and saw paper back books against a far wall. My plate of spaghetti was no longer on my lap. Did he take it away? I looked around me, and sat up. Jamie turned around and retrieved something. He faced me again and had my plate of spagetti in his hands.**

** "Thank you!" I said as he handed it to me and I dug right in. He laughed at me as I pigged out on the deliciousness of this meal. I finished it off in a matter of minutes, and Jamie handed me a water bottle. I guzzled it down quickly. "Thanks." I said again after I'd eaten everything.**

** "My pleasure." He laughed again. My fatigue hit me like a brick wall. My eyes sagged and I crumpled to the bed. Then I remembered where I was, and that these things don't belong with me. **

** These aren't mine, I shouldn't intrude more than I already am. **

** "Shay? I'll be right back okay?" Jamie asks, headed to the door.**

** "Sure." I say sleepily. When he's out of the room, I get myself off the mattress and lay on the ground. It isn't comfortable, but it's better than sleeping with other people's things. It just feels wrong to sleep with their personal items. I shouldn't even be here, I should be in the hospital or somewhere else. Not here. I lay my head down on the ground and fall asleep quickly, despite my discomfort.**

** When I wake, I'm a little dazed, not remembering where I am. Am I sleeping out in the forests of Oklahoma? Am I in a hidden cave somewhere, or in an old abandoned house? Then I remember all the people and their secret underground tunnels, Wanda, the rogue Soul whom lives in the very room I'm sleeping in, and Jamie, the super sweet guy who is a year younger then me and has the most georgous brown eyes and black hair I've ever seen. I open my eyes and there is a hole right above me. The sky is black and I can see the moon, a full moon. I sit up slowly, and realize that I'm not on the floor, I'm on the mattress. How'd I get here? I look around and sitting right next to me is the very person I had just been thinking of, Jamie.**

** "Sorry, did I wake you?" Jamie asks**

** "Um, no, how'd I get on the bed?" I ask**

** "I couldn't have you sleeping on the floor, it's uncomfortable." Jamie says**

** "Who else lives in this room?" I questioned.**

** "Jared, Wanda and me. Wanda and me sleep on this mattress, Jared sleeps on the other one." Jamie answers, pointing at the other mattress in the room. I'm taking Wanda's place from her, or Jamie's.**

** "Where am I going to be sleeping?" I ask him, curious because everyone has to share rooms.**

** "In here. We don't have anywhere else at the moment." Jamie replies. **

** "I'm crowding." I complain**

** "Of course not Shay! None of us mind. Besides, Jared and Wanda left a few minutes ago. You were only asleep for an hour or two. They went out on another raid, I'm not sure when they'll be back. I don't like sleeping alone." Jamie admitted, looking down shyly. "Why did you get on the floor again?" He mumbles, still looking away from me.**

** "I didn't want to sleep on you and Wanda's bed, I don't want to intrude." I say, trying to get off the bed and onto the floor where I belong.**

** "You aren't intruding, plus you deserve to sleep on a bed." Jamie argues**

** "No I don't, I shouldn't even be here, there isn't any room for me and none of you even know me. I can't even stand being around anyone except for you, Wanda, and Ian." I say, still trying to get on the floor. Right when I manage too, Jamie grabs my hand and puts his arms around my waist, preventing me from getting on the floor.**

** "You're human, you belong here." Jamie says sternly looking directrly into my eyes "Most of these people here we didn't know until we got here. Plus, you're small, so you don't take up much room, so you can't say there isn't enough room for you. And it doesn't matter if you don't trust anyone but me and Wanda and Ian, you'll get to know everyone soon enough, and if not, then I'm fine with you only trusting Wanda, Ian, and me." Jamie says, still holding my waist.**

** "But... I just... You're very manipulative." I say, not being able to argue or disagree**

** "Is that a compliment?" Jamie asks **

** "Yes it is, it takes alot to change my mind." I say**

** "Are you hungry?" Jamie asks me**

** "Yes, are you going to get food?" I ask. Okay I know I shouldn't be hungry because I ate an hour ago, I think, but I am.**

** "No, I'm going to take you to the food. You need to get out of this room." Jamie says**

** "But, the people..." I say, teriffied at the very thought. I tremble as I picture me alone in a huge crowd. No way can I do it.**

** "Don't worry, I'll be there to protect you, although you won't need it. You are human after all." Jamie says**

** "How am I supposed to get there? I can't walk remember?" I ask**

** "Of course I remember, I'm going to carry you. Just like before." Jamie gets off the bed, picks me up and craddles me in his arms before I can object, holding me close to his chest. He's so warm, and I'm surprisingly cold. I shiver and press myself closer to him, trying to chase away the cold that had seemed to inbed itself permently in my body. "Okay, we're going to the cafeteria, that's where everyone eats and talks." Jamie says and walks out of our shared room and into the hallway, I don't see anyone.**

** "But all the people." I say, pushing myself even closer to his chest at just the thought.**

** "Don't worry Shay, everyone will be very nice to you, I promise. We can even sit in the back if you want." Jamie assures me.**

** "Okay." I say, keeping as close as possible to him, but trusting him. I have too, he's the only one down here who I trust completely. We are in the big garden room now.**

** "Okay, take a deep breath." Jamie says, stopping outside a hall, I do as he says "Now breath out." I breathe out "We are going into the cafeteria now, don't panic okay?" Jamie asks**

** "O....kay." I say and push myself impossibly closer to him. He sighs but walks down the hall and we enter a room that was really long, but not very wide. There were quite a few people. I begin counting and count twenty seven. Twenty seven humans! I haven't seen this many people in over five years! My heart kicked into overdrive and I began panicking. "You know Jamie, I'm not hungry, can you just take me back to your room please?" I ask, my voice shaking, giving away my fear. Stupid voice.**

** "Sorry Shay, but I don't believe you, I can hear your stomach growling." Jamie says, my stomach growling just to betray me further. Grr.**

** "I don't care, it's not worth it. Please take me back." I beg**

** "Sorry Shay, but you need to get used to everybody." Jamie says**

** "But crowds and populated areas are things that are supposed to be avoided. This goes against all of my instincts, plus I've been alone for five years, all these people are just... A lot of people." I say looking all around the room and feeling more and more out of place. I try to tell myself that they are my friends, they won't hurt me, but I just can't help but feel freaked out.**

** "But they are all humans and almost all of them are super nice. They will all love you." Jamie says, a little frustrated at me.**

** "But," I start but he cuts me off**

** "You are going to have to get used to it, so you might as well do that now." He replies angrily and walks to the front of the room. There are counters all around the room, some for leaning against and some for sitting. Jamie takes me to the front of the room and sets me on one of the many counters. He put me in the very front even though he said I could sit in the back. He sets me right next to Ian. "I'll be right back Shay, I'm gonna get us dinner." Jamie says more happily and leaves me here, with all these people. I bring my knees up to my chest and hug them. Everyone is staring at me. I can feel the eyes boaring into me.**

** "Hey Shay, glad you could make it." Ian says**

** "Hi Ian." Is all I say before I put my head on my knees and close my eyes while I wait for Jamie to come back with my food.**

** "Don't take it personally Ian, Shay isn't much comfortable with all these people." Jamie says suddenly. I lift my head from my knees to see him standing in front of me. I feel an insy wincy bit better with him there and manage a small smile for him. "Shay, you need to get used to it." Jamie lectures sternly and hands me my food, a steamy roll, roast, and mash potatoes and gravy. My mouth waters and I forget all about my discomfort at all the people and dig in. This is, without a doubt, the most tasty thing I've had in my entire life. I hadn't had this in forever and it felt good to eat something that actually tastes good and fills my stomach. My plate of spaghetti had been cold and was just a few fork fulls, not hardly enough to fill me. I wasn't pigging out like I wanted, because I didn't want to bring any attention to myself, but I was eating the food sort of fast. I saw Jamie smile as he dug into his food. **

** After about ten minutes, we both finished our dinner. He took both our plates and put them in a bin with everyone elses dishes. He walked back over and picked me up. He craddled me to his chest again and carried me to his room setting me back on the mattress once we get into his room.**

** "That wasn't so bad now was it?" Jamie asks**

** I shake my head no "I guess not." I smile at him and lay my head on the pillow, then, remembering that it isn't mine and this isn't really my place, I try to get on the floor.**

** "Shay, just lay down." Jamie says as he wraps his arms around my waist to keep me from getting on the floor. **

** "I will if you let go of me." I say and try to get out of his arms.**

** "I meant on the bed next to me." Jamie says**

** "Fine, are you sleeping there too?" I ask, not really meaning anything by it.**

** "If you don't mind. But I'm only laying here if you stay on the bed and sleep on this pillow." Jamie says. There was no use arguing with Jamie, I saw that already. I sighed and laid my head down on the pillow that wasn't mine, and quickly found myself falling into a deep sleep.**


	6. Chapter 5

** Chapter 5**

** That's when I had the strangest dream, well dreams, of my life.**

** Here in this world, there are no parasites.... Or... Well... Souls. In fact, besides the people who live in the caves with me, there are no people. Jamie and I walk down a pristine beach with powder white sand, ankle deep in the clear aqua water, the color of the Carribbean Sea, I realized from all the times I had seen pictures or watched TV shows before the Souls invaded. A gentle, warm ocean breeze caresses us gently and sways the palm fronds, the gentle waves lapping at our feet in a rythmic pattern while the distant sound of bigger waves a little ways off shore reach our ears. Jamie and I walk down this beautiful beach, hand in hand, swinging them between us, listening to our friends running and laughing somewhere off in the distance. For some reason I knew that Wanda and Melanie were two different people, no longer sharing a body. Interesting.**

** As Jamie and I continue down the beautiful island paradise, we look at the beautiful scene that lies in front of us, the full moon beginning to rise, looking like it is coming from the ocean itself, casting a beautiful luminious silver light over the island, making it look as if it were actually daylight. Two dolphins jump out of the water, startling Jamie and I, as we laugh and continue our walking, thinking how beautiful and peaceful this all is. **

** "This is beautiful." I say to Jamie, speaking my thoughts.**

** "It sure is." Jamie says. We continue, colorful birds flying overhead, the sound of our friends in the surrounding palm forest, everything serene and peaceful. I lean my head on Jamie's shoulder and close my eyes, listening to the peaceful serenity that has surrounded us. **

** When I open my eyes, everything has changed.**

** There is no beautifully clear aqua ocean, no caressing breeze, no gentle lapping waves, nothing peaceful about the scene that had materalized in front of me. The horizon is a sickening red color, the bottom quarter of it turning a black that seemed too black, no sun, nor moon in sight. There are tall sky scrapers surrounding me, most of the windows in them shattered, flames coming out of some of them, buildings on fire, people screaming and shrieking. The streets littered with cars, their windows blown out, or twisted wrongly around light poles and such, engulfed in flames, glass littered all over, but no people that I could see except for Melanie and Jared, running hand in hand in front of me, and Wanda and Ian, also running hand in hand in front of me. I began to panic because Jamie was nowhere to be seen, but then I looked around and behind me to see if I could find him, and found him sprinting next to me. I grabbed his hand and he stared at me with those big frightened blue eyes, and we twined our fingers together and continued to sprint behind the people who are like parents to us. **

** Again I noticed that Wanda and Melanie weren't the same person, sharing the same body. Wanda was now a petite blonde who, just seeing the breifest of glances, looked overly sweet and innocent, she looked exactly how I imagine an angel to look. I had the overwhelming urge to protect her from the danger that was chasing us, although I had no idea of what that danger was. **

** We continued to run down the haunting streets, right behind Jared, Melanie, Wanda, and Ian. I didn't see anyone else from the tunnels, not that I knew very many people besides the ones we're running with. Jamie grips my hand for dear life, like if he let's me go, I'll disappear or be taken by the danger we're running from. Jamie and I turned down an alley way, Jamie stopping and pushing me against the wall, then he stands beside me, pressing himself as close to the wall as possible, I mimick what he's doing, and I see people, I think, run by our alley way, not seeing us. After they run by, Jamie and I run to the other end of the alley and when we turn the corner, I see Melanie and Jared standing around something. We run up to them and stop breifely.**

** "Get down there now, and stay quiet." Melanie hissed at us and Jamie gives me a quick look, then let's go of my hand and disappears into the street. I finally look down and see a man hole in the street, leading to the sewer. I look over at Melanie and she glares at me, before sofetening her look a little, and giving me a slight smile. Then we hear "There they are! There are the humans!" and we all turn towards the sound. There are hundreds of Seekers gathering a football field away from us. **

** "Go!" Melanie yelled at me and pushed me into the hole. I fall for what seemed like forever, the light of the world above me getting smaller and smaller, until it's completely blocked out. When I finally hit the bottom, I try to land on my feet but they give way as soon as they touch the bottom and I fall to my knees, the water reaching to my chest as I try to scream out in pain, but a strong hand clamps shut over my mouth. I hear a splash, then another a few feet behind me, and I know that it's Melanie and Jared. The person who had their hand clamped to my mouth dragged me over a little ways right before the splashes sounded. The person yanked me up and pulled me to their chest. **

** "Shay, I know you're hurt but we have to run." Jamie said, the person holding me around my waist, pressing me against his body, clutching my hand. He pulled away and then started running again, making me run to although I know my ankle is sprained, maybe broken. We run from the Seekers I hear splashing one by one into the sewer. There was no way we could run from all of them. We are all doomed. **

** "Jamie, I love you." I said, where the heck did that come from? **

** "Don't talk like that now, we're not going to be caught!" Jamie said harshly**

** "Do you love me?" I asked **

** "Of course I love you Shay." Jamie said, our eyes had already became adjusted to the darkness and he found a small drainage hole. He pushed me into it, and then dived in himself. He pushed me further and further into the hole until I could no longer see where we came in, it was just him and I alone in the darkness. "Shay I've loved you ever since the very first time I saw you." Jamie said and kissed me with so much passion and anger and love it took me by surprise. I totally forgot about the Seekers that were after us.**

** When arms wrap around my waist, I assume they're Jamie's and wrap my arm's around his shoulders, but when they yank me back, seperating me from Jamie, I begin to suspect something's going on. I wrap my arms tighter around Jamie and the person behind me tugs harder, making my grip on Jamie looser and looser. "Jamie! They've got me!" I scream. He wraps his arms around my stomach, above the Seeker's hands, and holds onto me tight.**

** "They won't get you Shay, I won't let you go!" Jamie screamed, tears falling down his face. I press my lips against his and kiss him, then the hands around my waist tug once more and seperate me from Jamie. I hear him scream my name. **

** "Run Jamie! Get outta here!" I yelled to Jamie before the Seeker put his hand over my mouth. He dragged me by my hair down the street aways until he entered a nasty hospital. I thrash around, punching, kicking, bitting, and screaming the whole way there. Finally he enters a room and picks me up, throws me over his shoulder, and then puts me on a hospital cot. They flip me over on my stomach and then tie me down. I still fight, still struggle, trying to get loose and escape, but the ropes are too tight. Then, a Healer comes out with a grizzly scalpel in one hand and a silver wriggling thing in the other. He comes over to the cot, pushes my hair to the side, and makes an insission on my neck and I feel the blood trickle down my neck, then I feel the wriggly Soul starting to burry into my neck, before it gets in there I think, and the only thing I can think of is Jamie, and that I'm going to give him away. Right before my self control slips away, I see them bring in somebody, and recgonize the black hair and blue eyes immedietly. **

** "Jamie!" I scream and shoot bolt upright. I'm sweating and panting and I look desperately around the room. I'm still in Jamie, Jared, and Wanda's room, now also my room, and I'm just going to have to get used to that. I look next to me where Jamie had been laying with me, but he is no longer there. I look over to the other mattress and Wanda is sleeping there, hugging a big silver Soul thingy. I wonder where she got that, she didn't have it earlier and I've never seen anything like it before. Then I see Jamie, sitting up, looking at me . When I see him I burst into tears and bring my knees to my chest, hugging them, and hide my face. I hear Jamie get up, I hear Jamie crawl over to where I'm sitting, and I feel Jamie put his hand on my back. I pick my head up and look at him. I had been so scared, and because of me, he had been caught along with me. I really hope that wasn't a dream that would eventually come true, I couldn't handle the guilt and the saddness. **

** "You had a dream about me?" He asks, I just nod my head. "Was it a nightmare?"**

** "The first one was wonderful, but that last one was so horrible-" I break off on a sob and he wraps his arms around my waist like he had in my dream and pulls me to his chest, and I cry. **

** "It's okay Shay it was all just a dream, you're okay and I'm okay, nothing happened." Jamie soothes me as he strokes my hair. Soon I cry myself tired and my eye lids begin to get heavy. "Get back in bed Shay, I'll see you in the morning." Jamie says sweetly**

** "Jamie," I started, I didn't want him to let go of me, to leave me alone, but I've been much to dependent on him and I need to give him a little space.**

** "Yes Shay?" He asks**

** "Nothing." I say and get out of his arms and climb back into bed. He lies down on the bed we are sharing and a few minutes later, I hear him snoring soflty. I relax a little, comforted by having Jamie sleeping soundly beside me and the sound of Jamie's soft snores and drift back to sleep.**

** When I wake up the following morning, I'm not all that ready to wake up. I open my eyes for a second, and see that Wanda isn't in the room. I yawn and see Jamie rubbing his eyes. He gets up and streches, some of his joints popping. I close my sleepy eyes and drift back off to sleep.**

** My eyes flutter open, and I'm shocked that I'm moving. I look around frantically for a few panic-y seconds, and then I see Jamie. He smiles down at me and I smile back.**

** "Morining." Jamie says**

** "G'morning. Um, why are you carrying me?" I ask**

** "Well, I figured you would want to eat this morning so I'm taking you to the kitchen. You fell asleep right before I picked you up. I figured you would wake up in a few minutes, and if not, I would've woken you up anyways." Jamie says with a cute crooked smile.**

** "Okay then." I say**

** He walks us into the kitchen, and sets me on the same counters we had sat on last night. He returns with two plates with bacon, eggs, and waffles on them. My mouth waters and when he hands me my plate, I dig in immedietly. Jamie chuckles at me but begins eating his food also. **

** When we both finish, he takes both of our plates and sets them in the tub everyone puts their dishes in. He comes back and picks me up and walks out of the kitchen/mess hall and into the big garden room. **

** "They aren't working on these crops today, so we should be safe." Jamie says and walks through the room over to the several rows of corn stalks.**

** "Uh, why are we going into the corn field?" I ask**

** "Because I don't want to go to class, and I don't think you want to either." Jamie says and sets me down in the dirt. He then settles himself next to me and takes my hand. I stare at our hands, and very slowly, he intertwines our fingers. I get butterflies. I scoot myself closer to him and lay my head on his shoulder. I kinda wish he hadn't woken me up this morning, because now I'm tired. But yet I'm glad because now I get to spend more time with him. He lays us back, and we both stare at the ceiling with it's mysterious sparkly sun-shiny ceiling. None of this seems real. Two days ago, I thought I was the only human on Earth. Today I'm living with almost forty of them, and one Soul, and I'm falling in love with Jaime.**

** Yes I'm pretty sure that I'm falling in love with him. I know I've only known him for like a day, but he's the only person I can think about. He starred in every one of my dreams last night. I'm pretty sure he likes me too, but how can I be sure? I can't. But I'm very confident he feels for me how I feel for him. At least, I hope. **

** My head is lying on his chest, and he has his arms wrapped around me and our hands our intertwined, and my heart is beating crazy, as is his. He is so sweet, and caring. It feels as if we've known each other for a lifetime, not a mesely day. HOw could I not of known him my entire life? How is it possible to fall in love with someone in a day? Is it possible? Am I only thinking I love Jamie because he is the only person I've trusted? How can I be sure?**

** I wasn't prepared for any of this.**

** I wasn't prepared for the invasion. I wasn't prepared for the many, many years of solitude and running. I wasn't prepared to have my life turned upside down, to be saved from all my running. I wasn't prepared to fall in love.**

** I wasn't prepared for any of this, but I didn't care. I only cared about the boy laying beneath me. The heart beating under my head, the breath that left his lungs when he breathed. The young man who talked fast when he was excited or nervous. The boy who cried with me, who could comfort me and heal me when no one else could. **

** The man I was undeniably falling in love for.**


End file.
